Solitude (Cunningham Security Book 4)

by A. K. Evans

  My eyes went to Lorenzo’s. “Apparently, he takes after you.”

  Lorenzo’s brows pulled together. “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “He’s bossy,” I clarified.

  Lorenzo laughed. “He’s only bossy if he’s successful. That means you can’t give in to him. If you do, you’ll create a monster.”

  “He’s too cute, babe. I’m not sure I can say no to him.”

  “You’ll regret it, Jolie. Don’t let him think he’s in charge.”

  I cocked an eyebrow and asked, “So, if in a year or two when Hank or Gracie have already had a cupcake and one of them walks up to you asking to have another cupcake when you know that Dom and Ekko would not agree to a second one, what are you going to do?”

  Lorenzo’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not fighting fair.”

  “It’s the same thing!”

  He shook his head. “No, it’s not. Dom and Ekko are supposed to set rules and boundaries for Hank and Gracie the same way we need to set them for Ollie. As Hank and Gracie’s uncle, it is my job to help them break the rules that are silly.”

  I couldn’t argue with him. He’d called himself their uncle. I liked the way that sounded and I really liked the way it made me feel.

  “I love you,” I breathed.

  Lorenzo brought his mouth to mine, kissed me, and returned, “I love you, too.”

  Ollie started barking again.

  Lorenzo and I laughed. Then, I walked to the kitchen to start dinner while Ollie and his dad went outside. By the time they came back, I already had dinner in the oven. While we waited for it to cook, Lorenzo and I got down on the floor and played with our pup.

  Ollie had the best time.

  When the timer for the oven went off indicating dinner was ready, my perfect puppy was all worn out. He curled up in his bed his daddy bought him and took a nap.

  Lorenzo and I ate and cleaned up from dinner. Then, we made our way to the couch to get reacquainted with one another. Just as things started heating up between us, a bossy little Frenchie started barking.

  Feeling sexually frustrated, I sighed, “Maybe I’ll have to reconsider giving in to all his demands.”

  At that, Lorenzo burst out laughing and buried his face in my neck.

  A minute later, he lifted Ollie off the floor and brought him up on the couch with us so we could watch Rocco’s hockey game together.

  And for the first time since my accident, I went a full day without having a single headache.

  Bark.

  Bark.

  Bark.

  While I couldn’t fully understand exactly what Dom and Ekko went through with the newborns, I certainly had an appreciation for their ability to function with little to no sleep. Ollie woke us up a few times throughout the night with his whimpers.

  About twenty-five minutes ago, Lorenzo leaned over, gave me a kiss on the cheek, and declared, “Morning, Jolie. I’m going to go let him out.”

  “I can do it,” I suggested.

  Lorenzo gave me a look that told me I shouldn’t even consider doing such a thing since he was there. “I’ve got it.”

  “Okay,” I acquiesced.

  He looked down at Ollie and instructed, “Let’s go, boy.”

  Our excited puppy followed behind Lorenzo as he walked out of the bedroom. Exhausted, I stayed in bed, hoping Lorenzo would come back and join me.

  But when more than enough time had passed and they still hadn’t returned, I began to worry that something bad happened. Just as I sat up in the bed, preparing to go down to make sure everything was alright, I heard Lorenzo’s footsteps climbing the stairs.

  When they walked in, Ollie went right to his bed, curled up, and fell asleep. I looked to Lorenzo for an explanation.

  “I took him out. He relieved himself and then I played with him. He’s worn out now.”

  Having missed him so much, I asked, “Any idea how long he’ll stay sleeping?”

  Giving me a sly grin, Lorenzo sauntered back over to the bed. “At this age, he’ll need an average of twenty hours of sleep a day. I think he’s going to be out for a while.”

  Lorenzo dropped his jeans, put a knee to the bed, moved toward me, and settled himself over half my body.

  “I missed you, boss,” I said softly.

  “I’m right here, baby.”

  I shook my head. “No, I mean I’ve missed you. I’ve missed being with you.”

  Lorenzo brushed his knuckles down my cheek.

  “Will you make love to me, Lorenzo?”

  He didn’t answer with words. Instead, he lowered his mouth to mine and kissed me soft, slow. My arms wrapped around his shoulders as his hand that had been at my face dropped to my hip. He gave me a squeeze there and deepened the kiss when his tongue dipped into my mouth. His hand trailed up my side until he reached my breast.

  Palming my breast in his hand, Lorenzo forced a moan to escape. He’d held me so many times over the last few weeks, but it was nothing like this. Nothing at all like this.

  This was sweet relief.

  This was finally, finally having him back.

  “Lorenzo,” I breathed when his mouth started traveling down along my throat.

  His lips were featherlight on the skin of my chest, hovering there, when he returned, “Missed you too, baby. Missed you so much.”

  “Please,” I pleaded with him. “I need you.”

  Lorenzo lifted, shifted, and removed his boxer briefs while I whipped my camisole over my head. Before I had a chance to think, Lorenzo’s hands were at my hips, yanking my panties down my legs.

  “So beautiful, Jolie,” he rasped.

  Then, he disappeared between my legs. His mouth was on me, gentle at first, then deliciously hard. Claiming. He devoured me, his tongue swiping through my wetness before plunging inside me.

  It had been too long, way too long, so it took very little effort for Lorenzo to bring me to the brink of an orgasm. He knew I was there, ready to fall, and pulled his mouth from me.

  I whimpered, ready to burst into tears at the loss of him.

  “It’s been too long without you. First time after all that’s happened, I want you coming with me inside you, baby.”

  “Hurry,” I begged.

  Lorenzo hurried.

  In one swift movement, he positioned himself and slid inside.

  I gasped.

  “Babe,” I breathed, the air leaving my lungs.

  “Way too long, Jolie,” he croaked.

  “Take it home, Lorenzo.”

  He did.

  And it was beautiful.

  Our bodies connected, hands roaming, and mouths tasting left us panting, breathless, and building to something extraordinary. Lorenzo took us there and he did it effortlessly.

  Slow.

  Gentle.

  Tender.

  “Take it, baby,” he encouraged me.

  I took it. Pleasure shot through me and Lorenzo worked me through it.

  Two thrusts after I started to come down, he found his and took it, his groan low, deep, and very, very sexy.

  Lorenzo collapsed on top of me, only briefly, before rolling to his back and taking me with him. With my body draped across his, my big guy held me while we took some time to catch our breath.

  After some time had passed, I lifted my head and declared, “I really didn’t enjoy the way I’ve felt since the accident, but if what just happened is the result, I don’t mind that I had to take one for the team.”

  Lorenzo’s body vibrated with laughter underneath mine.

  “I’m not real keen on going through what we just went through ever again, but I’m more than willing to give you what I just did whenever you need it as long as you give back just as good as you just gave me,” he said.

  “That works for me,” I agreed.

  After a few minutes of silence passed, he asked, “How do you feel? Is anything hurting you? I wasn’t too rough with you, was I?”

  I shook my head. “I’m perfect. You were perfect
and you didn’t hurt me.”

  He returned a gentle smile. “Love you, Jolie.”

  “I love you, too.”

  I glanced over at Ollie and found him still sleeping, looking absolutely adorable. Feeling so much love for him and for the man holding me in his arms, I looked back at Lorenzo and spoke. “Thank you for Ollie.”

  Giving me a gentle squeeze, he returned, “You’re welcome.”

  Putting my cheek back to his chest while I had all the emotions I did running through me, I started talking about the accident. Or, more accurately, I started talking about the person behind it.

  “I trust you, Lorenzo,” I began. “I trust you and the rest of the guys to do what you need to do to keep me safe from whoever did this to me.”

  “It means a lot to me that you feel that way,” he replied. “But we’re stuck.”

  My body tightened. “Stuck?”

  “I don’t want you to worry, but I’m not going to hide this from you. That didn’t lead us anywhere good last time.”

  I lifted my head to look at him. “I think I should go get cleaned up before we get into this discussion.”

  He dipped his chin and left me to it.

  When I returned, I pulled on a clean pair of panties and a camisole before I climbed back into the bed.

  “Okay, boss. Give it to me,” I demanded.

  “After Trent put in a bit of work to clean up the image on the video, we were able to get a clear shot of the plate number from the vehicle that hit you. We found the owner. It was a woman; her name is Melinda Starnes. Dom and I talked about it. He doesn’t know her, so there’s certainly no family connection. You don’t know anyone by that name from your job, do you? Maybe a client?”

  I took a minute to think, but the name didn’t ring a bell. “No. I don’t recognize that name. Has she been found?”

  “Not yet, but Detective Baines is personally looking into locating her. We are, too. The house where the car is registered to has been vacant since we learned who she was. I’m guessing that after the hit-and-run, she never went home.”

  “Well, that’s disappointing,” I huffed. “What now?”

  “We’re still working on it. Right now, I think the issue is that we’re searching for someone that isn’t our real suspect.”

  My brows pulled together. “What do you mean?”

  “Don’t get me wrong,” he started. “It was definitely a woman that hit you. We could see that on the footage, which, by the way, was not easy to watch. So, she definitely needs to be caught and justice served for what she did. What I’m saying, though, is that I don’t think she acted alone. I think someone else is involved. That’s the bigger reason we need to find her. If we can, we’ll hopefully be able to figure out who she’s working with.”

  “So what happens now?” I wondered.

  He shook his head. “Nothing’s going to be different for you. I don’t want you alone until we solve this case. I don’t know when you’re planning to go back to work, but if that time comes and this is still unresolved, I’ll take you to work and pick you up.”

  “I was planning to call them later today,” I began. “I feel awful about it, but I don’t want to rush myself through my recovery. My clients are important to me and I want to give them the same service they’ve come to expect from me. If I’m in pain, I won’t be able to do that, so I’ve decided to wait until January. I’ll call today and have the girls there reschedule my clients.”

  Lorenzo took a moment to process what I’d said and gave me a sad smile. “I’m so sorry this happened to you, Jolie. I know how much your work means to you.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I’m bummed, but I’ve got a cute little pup that’s going to need some training, so I’ll have plenty to keep me busy for the next few weeks.”

  He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me toward him for a hug. “I’m going to keep you safe,” he promised.

  “I know you will. I never doubted that for one second,” I replied.

  Putting his hand behind my head, he dropped his mouth to mine. His lips barely had a chance to touch mine when the barking started. I laughed against his lips and stated, “We have to be grateful that he stayed sleeping a little while ago.”

  “You ready for breakfast?” he asked.

  “Yeah.”

  After giving me one more peck, he urged, “You take care of Ollie, I’ll make you food.”

  “Okay.”

  With that, we got out of bed. I gave Ollie cuddles and kisses before taking him downstairs to give him his breakfast while Lorenzo took care of getting our breakfast ready.

  “You have everything,” Lorenzo groaned.

  “I just want to run through it all in my mind one more time,” I explained. “I don’t want to forget anything.”

  Lorenzo walked toward me, put his arm around my shoulders, and insisted, “If you forget anything, my mom is going to have it. Did you forget she’s got Daphne?”

  “I know, but Ollie is used to his things. I want him to be comfortable. We’ve got a busy day planned with your mom and I want to make sure he’s got all of his toys he loves.”

  I finished rummaging through the bag of filled with Ollie’s things and confirmed I had everything he needed.

  “Okay, it’s all here. We’re good.”

  Lorenzo picked up the bag while I snatched my pup off the ground. We locked up and were nearly to Lorenzo’s truck when I remembered, “His leash. I forgot his leash on the coffee table!”

  “Mom has extra leads,” Lorenzo assured me. “You’ve got his collar. That’s all that matters.”

  I frowned.

  Opening the passenger’s side door for me, Lorenzo sighed, “Get in, start the truck, lock the doors, and I’ll go get it for you.”

  I grinned at him.

  “You’re lucky I love you so much,” he said in response.

  “And Ollie,” I added, holding the cuddly boy up in front of me.

  “And Ollie,” Lorenzo repeated.

  He closed my door and I did as he asked, starting the truck and locking the doors, while he went back to get Ollie’s leash.

  It was two days before Christmas. Lorenzo was taking me to his mom’s house. She and I had made plans to do some holiday baking. Unfortunately, Lorenzo wouldn’t be able to stay with us because he had to go to work.

  Apparently, they’d finally found Melinda Starnes. Her car was found in a hotel parking lot in Rising Sun. Colton and Memphis were all over the case, unofficially, because of their connection to me. When Melinda was brought in, she was questioned but wasn’t talking. They were able to hold her because of the hit-and-run charges; however, it did little to advance the investigation. While I was still uneasy over the fact that there was someone out there who had set this up, I found comfort in the fact that Lorenzo, Dom, their team, the WPD, Colton, Memphis, and now the RSPD were all working on this case. And knowing that Lorenzo’s intuition was right helped to ease my mind. Considering they knew she didn’t act alone before she was even caught was a testament to their abilities.

  I sat there, scratching behind Ollie’s ear, watching as Lorenzo walked back to the truck with the leash. When he got in the truck, I smiled as leaned over the center console and offered, “A kiss for your troubles.”

  Lorenzo accepted my kiss and held the leash out to me. After I took it from him and set it on the floor by my feet, we took off.

  When we arrived at Lorenzo’s mom’s house, we found her outside with Daphne. Ollie had slept in my lap on the drive over and didn’t even budge after the truck had stopped and Lorenzo opened my door. While I got out and carried him over to Lena so I could greet her, Lorenzo grabbed Ollie’s bag from the back seat.

  “How are you doing, dear?” she asked.

  Smiling at her, I replied, “I’m doing so much better now. I’ve been working on strength and endurance for my leg. At the pace I’ve been improving, I’m certain I’ll be more than prepared to get back to work by the time I’m set to go back in Jan
uary.”

  “That’s wonderful news. I’m so happy you’re doing better.”

  “Thanks,” I responded.

  “Let’s head inside and get to work on our cookies!”

  Once we were inside, Lorenzo pet Daphne, said hello to his mom, gave scratches to Ollie, and kissed me.

  “I don’t know how long I’ll be,” he started. “If everything goes well, I should be back in a few hours. If not, I have no idea. Either way, I’ll keep you posted.”

  “Don’t worry,” his mom chimed in. “Jolie and I will be up to our elbows in Christmas treats, we won’t even know you’re gone.”

  My eyes shot to Lorenzo’s. He cocked an eyebrow, silently requesting me to confirm or, more specifically, deny what his mom had just said.

  I leaned in toward him and whispered, “I’ll know you’re gone. Ollie and I are both going to miss you bunches.”

  “Good answer,” he returned, bringing his mouth to mine and kissing me again. “Alright, I’m going to go so I can get back. Maybe I’ll get lucky and can be back here when you’re pulling everything out of the oven.”

  “Not everything will be coming out of the oven at the same time, Lorenzo,” his mother informed him. “With the amount of treats we’re planning to make, there’s going to be several batches going in and out.”

  “Are you making oatmeal cinnamon cookies?” he asked.

  “Yes, of course,” she replied. “I know they’re your favorite. And we’re going to make snickerdoodles for Rocco, too.”

  “Make the oatmeal cinnamon cookies last,” he requested. “That’ll increase my chances for getting them warm out of the oven.”

  “Why don’t you just call when you’re on your way back?” I suggested. “This way, we can put them in the oven then and they should be ready to come out when you get back.”

  He grinned at me, gave me another kiss, and said goodbye.

  “Love you both,” he called out as he walked from the kitchen to the front door.

  Lena and I both returned the sentiment.

  Ten minutes later, just as she said we would be, Lena and I were elbows deep in Christmas treats.

  Five minutes after that, there was a knock at the door.

  “Would you mind getting that, Jolie? I need to rinse my hands.”